Fire hits ArcelorMittal Dunkirk’s largest furnace

There has been another fire at one of ArcelorMittal’s blast furnaces, this time at its Dunkirk site in France.

The fire started on the floor of blast furnace number four today, but was quickly extinguished and the unit has been made safe.

Dunkirk has three blast furnaces, with a combined pig iron capacity of 7mn t/yr. Blast furnace four has a capacity of about 3.6mn t/yr, according to Argus records. It is not yet clear what the production impact of the accident may be.

The blaze follows another at ArcelorMittal’s Gijon site, where blast furnace A caught fire on 22 March. Pictures of this fire, which started during a nozzle replacement, were widely shared on social media and it is expected that the furnace out of action for some time. The affected furnace is being emptied for assessment, said ArcelorMittal this week. After this furnace fire, which affected slab supply, sources said ArcelorMittal would use slab from one of its other sites, most likely Fos-sur-Mer or Dunkirk.

By Colin Richardson